Maui and Lana'i : Making the Most of Your Family Vacation (8th Ed) [Paperback]

Christie Stilson (Author), Dona Early (Author)

Book Description

Series: Maui and Lana'i | Publication Date: October 7, 1998

Inside this family-friendly travel guide, you'll find helpful information on:

• Visiting Maui and Lana'i, including tips on travel with children, wedding or honeymoon planning, special tips for seniors and the physically impaired
• More than 200 Maui and Lana'i hotels, condominiums, and bed and breakfast inns, including complete descriptions, rates, facilities, and toll-free numbers for each
• Over 350 restaurants with sample menus for all budgets
• More than 50 exceptional beaches
• Road and highway travel with fifteen updated, user-friendly maps


Each chapter features the author's personal recommendations and "Best Bets."



"The hotel and restaurant listings are very impressive, covering far more sites than most books and in greater depth. These are very practical books."

—San Diego Union-Tribune


"Excellent advice."

—Los Angeles Times


"Conveniently cross-indexed and elaborated with illustrations and maps, the latter being profuse and detailed, a clue to any guidebook of worth. . . . These guidebooks are the ones to take along."

—Portland Oregonian


About the Authors

Dona Early lives on Maui and has written dining and travel columns for local newspapers and an online visitor service.

Christie Stilson, owner of Paradise Publications, is a frequent visitor to the Hawaiian Islands. When Christie and her family are not traveling, they reside in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The family in Prima Publishing's Paradise Family Guides is meant in the 1990s sense. In their foreword, authors Dona Early and Christie Stilson explain: "As authors who travel in very different modes (Christie, who travels with a family with two children, and Dona as a single adult), we can share our island experiences from different 'family' viewpoints." This includes the potential for romance or having fun with friends as much as traveling with children or seniors, though the authors do point out that, if traveling without children or seniors, "you might want to consider renting one after reading up on some of the freebies and discounts they get!"

This is the eighth edition of Prima's Maui and Lana'i, and its scope and refreshed content are good. Maui and Lana'i are often paired in Hawai'i travel guides because Lana'i is quite small and not extremely well developed--it's an island wholly owned by Dole--though day trips to Lana'i leaving from Lahaina on Maui are popular. Thus, this guide mostly emphasizes the scores of resources, properties, and activities on Maui; the last 30 pages cover Lana'i.

At 496 pages, the text is divided into seven main sections, starting with Maui history and background--as well as a very handy new section on useful Maui-related Web sites--and advancing through Maui travel for the physically impaired, for seniors, and for people with children. Take special note of the nifty grocery-shopping section, a wonderful perk for condominium renters or for those who plan on saving money by doing some cooking. Depending on what part of the world you are traveling to Maui from, you may find the price guidelines here either surprisingly cheap or astoundingly expensive ("Bread $2.39, Bananas $.99 lb., baby food $.55-.69 per jar"). Just remember: eat like a local and not like a Mainlander and you won't ever pay too much.

Further sections cover "Where to Stay," "Restaurants," "Beaches," and "Recreation." Early and Stilson should have included photos (particularly in the history and background sections), and more detailed maps, but in content this is an excellent and accurate resource that will well serve families--whatever your definition--traveling to Maui for the first time. --Erik Macki

Review

The Complete Traveler's Reference and Guide to the Magical Islands of Maui and Lana'i

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (October 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761514805
• ISBN-13: 978-0761514800
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,159,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We took 3 tour books with us, and this was the best of them!, September 21, 1999

By 

Steven Baker "Rock on!" (Folsom, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maui and Lana'i : Making the Most of Your Family Vacation (8th Ed) (Paperback)

We just returned from Maui, and took 3 books with us. Fodor's, Frommer's, and this one. By far, this book was the best of them. Having all three while on the island was the best way to compare the books. Driving to various locations or eating in various locales while reading the same section in all 3 books is about the best way a fellow tourist can evaluate them.

The content, accuracy of information, and organization of this books makes it the winner in our opinion.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and accurate, which is more than you can say for some, March 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Maui and Lana'i : Making the Most of Your Family Vacation (8th Ed) (Paperback)

I bought six different guides before our first trip to Maui. After our trip, I compared what they all had to say about the numerous activities we had crammed into seven days. I felt that this one was by far the most accurate and honest. The authors aren't afraid to let you know that something may not live up to your expectations. I loaned my copy to a couple of friends, and they found it equally useful. Some of the big-name guides were surprisingly out of date and inaccurate. Anyway, you can trust this one.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best guidebooks I've used, December 28, 1998

By 

Robert Wolfson ([e-mail]) (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maui and Lana'i : Making the Most of Your Family Vacation (8th Ed) (Paperback)

This book is superb and it's not just for families. We visited Maui as a couple and found the book to be extremely helpful and very accurate. The prices for restaurants and accommodation were often exactly what the book quoted. And the descriptions of the accommodations, restaurants, activities, and scenic drives were extremely detailed and accurate.